My 7 mth pup does not like the judge looking at his mouth. This is a new problem for me even though I have shown for 17 yrs. He has been to Ringcraft classes since about 12 wks old, initially he was ok but as he grew on it went downhill. We kept going with it and tried and put it down to a certain person doing the class as with others he was sometimes ok. My OH took him to a open show today and was really upset as he actually slipped his lead when judge started to go over him and ran off. Walking around the show he is no problem. He is a cracking puppy and we really want to persevere, so basically HELP, any ideas or advise ?

What breed is he?

Prefer not to give breed for various reasons if you don't mind, however he is a large Gundog breed.

Ok no probs...you can't get him up on a table then....face to face? If you either worry about your ability to do this or his possibility of nipping you DON'T DO IT... But I trained a Dobe to do it this way...very resistant to mouth opening and this cured him.

I start with little cocktail sausages held in my lips...bend down so he sees and notices it.
Get focused on the sausage...click
Break a tiny bit off for being focused and still.
Repeat until he stares at your mouth...not taking ....just watching.you can then stand with your face away now he knows you've got a sausage.
*It's in the mouth so as to have both hands free.* but if you're happier keep it in your pocket but only treat from your mouth.

Once this is firmly learned, using both hands open his mouth (curl lips is enough) give key word TEETH ..any resistance let go BUT if he still stares at the sausage treat with a tiny bit.
You get the idea...train ...don't test, small amount of time, no stress.
Keep going back to what he does well and reinforce.
Once you've got a focused boy who will stand stock still for YOU, move onto a trusted friend...same procedure...
Then you can give a sausage to anyone ( they can have it in their pocket) give the key word "teeth" ..they look, they take the sausage and give a bit from their lips.

He needs to be SO sure that he gets a high reward treat for TEETH ...which to him, stops being his boogy man and becomes his pleasure.

Ok thank you for that advise. My OH said that today he was the worst he had been and he backed of the judge even before he got to do his mouth. So frustrating !
We started him on Stressless a few days ago in conjunction with an Adaptil collar....perhaps a bottle of gin might help !!!

how is he with you looking at his teeth? if he is fine you can show the teeth to the judge instead of them doing it. Then nice big treat once teeth done to keep him occupied while the judge does there thing.

Any ideas greatly received, thank you.
No trouble at all with either of us doing his teeth...that's the frustrating part !
OH has taken him to a breed show today and he said he was a lot better, not perfect, but better.
I think its going to be a matter of trying different approaches and hope he grows through it as he matures.

Thanks for your tip.

>My OH said that today he was the worst he had been and he backed of the judge

I would take him out of the show ring for a few months.  It will take away the reason (whatever it is) that has started this reaction.  Give him a total break.

Could his teeth be bothering him? As in settling into their adult position? I have a large gundog breed and some of mine have gone through the 'don't come near me' phase. It usually passes so long as a fuss isn't made of it.

If he is fine with you looking at his teeth then maybe, for now, you could ask the judge if it's ok for you to show the teeth, not the judge. Most judges are happy with this.

Tooolz's advise sounds fantastic, plus as others have said give him a break from showing while working on it. If there's a particular show you're absolutely desperate to take him to, say as the judge approaches 'may I show you his teeth please' and most judges will be reasonable with a puppy and be fine for you to do that. Then big treat to distract while the judge goes over him.

This is why I prefer the way things are done over in N.America (usually) - the handler shows the bite to the judge.  that also avoids a judge going from one dog to the next - infection.   On the minus side, some handlers were clever and could 'hide' a bite fault.

It's a pity this is going on - have you had him under a judge who was a tad harsh?  I've had puppies who have clearly picked up on something in a judge, which has affected their standing to be examined.   It only takes one to undo all the work done before going into the ring!   I'd suggest you go back to Ringcraft - or maybe see if you can prempt the judge going to his mouth by showing him the bite?

I hate to suggest that if the temperament isn't totally stable ....................... !!   Much as this may just be a phase (puberty) he's going through.   Perhaps continuing with the Ringcraft and resting him off showing for a while, might help?

- Edit - Sorry Lucydogs, I wrote this above, before I read your comments.

He has only been to a couple of shows, so don't think that's a problem. His reaction is like 'hey I'm not sure about you' to most people.
As we know there can be a problem like this with the breed, he has had such a lot of socialisation, probably the most we have ever given a pup. It's just people coming up to go over him.
Think we are just going to have to go with the flow with this one. At least he will go anywhere, another bitch we have would never go into a hall that had wooden floors, at Ringcraft she would hide under chairs, wee and pooh on many occasion, so stopped going. She is now a Sh Ch with 6 CC's & 7RCC 3BOBs....so persevering does pay off in the end.